Unseasonably cold weather and intense storms ripped through the southwestern Pacific coast this weekend, bringing rain, flash flooding and snow to parts of California and other states, forecasters said.
The National Weather Service in San Diego issued a flash flood warning Saturday morning, warning the public about possible flooding in the southwest part of the state.
The storm was expected to continue along the coast and eventually move inland.
“This storm will impact the entire United States, but the center of the storm is currently off the coast of California,” said AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Bob Smerbeck. “There will be problems such as flooding, landslides and landslides. People must remain vigilant.”
The storm is coming off the coast of california It is expected to move south and east by Saturday or Sunday, creating a risk of flash flooding in Southern California, said Allison Santorelli, a meteorologist at the Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.
Santorelli said 1 to 2 inches of rain had fallen in Los Angeles as of Saturday morning, and 2 to 4 inches had fallen in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
Santorelli said heavy snow is possible in the Transverse Mountains and Sierra Nevada. This was a fairly cold system, so we expected significant snowfall above 6,000 feet, with snow accumulations of 1 to 3 feet, and even more snow possible above 7,500 feet.
Windy conditions are expected to continue through Saturday morning, with gusts of 50 to 60 mph at altitudes above 5,000 feet, the National Weather Service Los Angeles office said in a statement.
Forecasters said the combination of strong winds and heavy snow could cause short-term blizzard conditions in mountainous areas. A winter storm warning was in effect for most of the mountains until Sunday evening.
Smerbeck said California is expected to be dry by Monday, but the storm will continue to move into Arizona over the weekend. Heavy rain was expected to fall in western Arizona from Saturday night into Sunday.
Arizona is Wind advisory Saturday from noon to 10 p.m. The newspaper said southcentral and southwestern Arizona could see up to a quarter-inch of rain. National Weather Service in Phoenix.
The storm is also expected to bring significant precipitation to parts of Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. As of Saturday, AccuWeather was forecasting 1 foot of snow in Flagstaff, Arizona.